A common ancestor with the wolf
From a common ancestor with the gray wolf, dogs became closer to people in a process that we could consider self-domestication. This means that it was not the people who deliberately took a wild animal and began to cross them for some purpose as has happened with other domestic animals, but rather the dogs themselves, who as a result of evolution entered a process of domestication. .
The dog made himself
Today we know that there are muscles in your face responsible for producing a reaction of tenderness in people. And that their abilities to understand our intentions and anticipate our behavior have been more than tested. They are aware of what we perceive and even what we feel.
Between dogs and people there is chemistry
During this process of co-evolution that dogs have had with humans, a hormone that intervenes in the affective bonds between individuals has had and still has an important role: oxytocin.
Oxytocin is the hormone responsible for creating connection in social groups with an adaptive and biological purpose.
For example, new mothers secrete this hormone just before delivery, favoring dilation, and after delivery, facilitating the bond with their newborn. This favors the care of the baby and its survival.
Various studies have shown that oxytocin appears when people and their dogs interact. This interaction can be based on caresses, but also words or a look. What is most fascinating is that both humans and dogs secrete the hormone during affective exchange.
The oxytocin party
As we have said, both dogs and people secrete oxytocin. This includes men and also women. But is there a difference between genders?
One study linked the binding of the hormone oxytocin with its brain receptors to the presence of estrogen, a primarily female hormone. This in turn was related to maternal behaviors, concluding that oxytocin plays a more important role in women than in men.
And the woman became the best friend of the dog
With all this, it is not surprising that there are studies that place women with a leading role in the process of domestication of the dog.
Women, given their nature as mothers, would find it easier to feel enchanted by the skillful gaze of the proto-dog. A wild animal that was subtly approaching getting food and care. Freeing himself from the massacre to which his cousins the wolves were subjected, thanks to his tender eyebrows and his ability to understand us. In this way they would have adopted and cared for certain puppies, favoring their survival and reproduction.
Not all mothers have human children
A few years ago I found a poem signed by “Conchi” on the net that moved me almost as much as the sad look of my dog when I eat sirloin.
This poem, which deserves to be quoted in its entirety, says:
“I am not a mother, I am not, but I am clear that the feeling of a mother for a child cannot be equaled and I cannot imagine what it will be like…
I have a dog, a dog that I adore, yes, but it is a dog.
Unlike a child, my dog will never grow old mentally, leave home or take care of me when I’m old.
It will not become independent or valid by itself: it will always need me to be able to eat, drink or simply play sports.
He will never be a teenager and since, besides, he will not speak either, I will never listen to typical phrases of a sloppy fifteen-year-old son/daughter such as “I passed you by”, “you just don’t understand me”, “you are so heavy”, “you don’t have no idea”.
Like those things, I won’t hear a “I love you”, “thank you”, “I need you” either…
He will not judge me, nor will he question my ideas or my decisions. He won’t ask me for a PLAY, a toy, a whim…
Unlike a son, I will never see part of me in my dog: neither physically nor psychologically, that is, I will not see a legacy.
I will see my dog grow so much that I will see him grow old, and not him me as a son would.
Not only will I be the one who takes care of him, but I will be the one who sees him go forever, like this, naturally and not because of a misfortune in life. Simply, that will be our destiny.
My dog is an animal, not a person, and he is not my child either.
However, I am his mother. Ironic? How can it be?”
I hope that after reading this article, you can explain with science in hand, this last question.
Finally, and on days like today, I can only say to you, that you have welcomed, adopted, picked up, rescued and given a home… happy mother’s day.
References
Chambers, J. et al. 2020. Dog-Human Coevolution: Cross-cultural analysis of multiple hypotheses. Journal of Ethnobiology, 40(4), 414-433
Miller, S. C. et al. 2009. An examination of changes in oxytocin levels in men and women before and after interaction with a bonded dog. Anthrozoös, 22(1), 31-42.
